The Garage Sale Trail: For Shopaholics and Eco Warriors.

By Laura Terrance on March 22, 2011 in News

For many of us the build up of old toys, books, furniture, appliances and clothes that were once cool but are now just plain tragic is an endless battle.

If you are desperate to rid your house of some junk the Garage Sale Trail is your perfect solution. The Trail is a great chance to successfully sell your old, unwanted goods while having good, old-fashioned fun.

The Garage Sale Trail was born in May 2010 at Bondi. Last year thousands of people followed the Trail to see what the 126 garage sales had in stall. Each sale sold an average of $750 worth of second-hand goods, which would have otherwise amounted to 15 shipping containers worth of rubbish.

With such tremendous success last year the Garage Sale Trail has now expanded into a nationwide event that will take place on Sunday, April 10 with the wonderful support of 27 councils around the country including Waverley, Woollahra, Randwick and City of Sydney Councils.

Not only is this event a great way to tidy up your house and make a few dollars, it is also the perfect opportunity to join your community in an effort to protect our environment by reducing landfill.

Executive Director of the Garage Sale Trail, Darryl Nichols, describes the event as “a mission to help promote recycling and sustainability, to bring people together, unite communities and have a little fun.  It is a project for the greater good”.
The event is a creative and practical way to keep rubbish off the streets, recycle goods rather than simply throwing them away and reduce the amount of new products being brought into the world.

As a community we need to be aware that our rubbish adds to the ever-growing amount of landfill in Australia, the costs of which are both monetary and environmental.

To help you understand just how expensive it is to dispose of our waste, it costs an estimated $42 to $102 per tonne of rubbish to be taken and stored in an urban landfill in Australia. When you think of how much rubbish one household accumulates on a weekly basis you can understand how expensive landfill disposal becomes.

Add to this the environmental costs of landfill, which are astounding. A major impact is the release of methane and other greenhouse gases that occur when waste decomposes. Just as alarming is the potential risk of toxic metals leaching into the surrounding soil structure if a landfill site is not properly lined.

By participating in the Garage Sale Trail you will also be raising money for Keep Australia Beautiful (KAB).

“We facilitate a financial contribution which asks participants to donate approximately 10% of their garage sale pocket money to KAB,” explains Nichols.

So if it is time to part with those high-waisted flare jeans or the ab-swing pro you know you’ll never use, register your garage sale on the Garage Sale Trail Map for free at www.garagesaletrail.com.au. You can also visit the website to find out everything you need to know about the garage sales in your area. Who knows what bargains you might find!